New Brunswick teen takes car after finding key left in console, police say

Google MapsMain Street in Metuchen where police say a 17-year-old took a car with the key left on the console.

METUCHEN — A New Brunswick teenager faces charges after he entered an unlocked car in Metuchen, found a broken ignition that was left on the console and drove away.

Police said the 17-year-old youth got less than two miles before he was stopped by an officer because he failed to turn on the headlights.

When Officer Richard Westover pulled over the 2009 Acura SUV on Main Street near Orchard Avenue at 11:49 p.m. Wednesday, the driver and a passenger each fled on foot in different directions, Officer David Liantonio said.

He said Westover chased and apprehended the driver, who was taken to JFK Hospital in Edison as a precaution because he was breathing so hard after the chase.

Charges are pending against the teenager, who was released to his mother when she came to the hospital.

Liantonio said the owner of the vehicle had left the car unlocked and left the broken key on the console.